Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

It made me mad that Dale was chosen to go home, with his teammates (Lisa) saying he didn't show good leadership skills. Didn't he tell her more than once that her dish tasted like smoke? And wasn't that the complaint from the judges? If he tries, and you don't listen, it is no one's fault but yours. Sourpuss. Hopefully it is Lisa next Week, then Spike, with Richard taking the whole thing.

ARGH! Why must we all be tortured week after week by the likes of LISA? [Bugs Bunny voice] Oh Ow! Ooh! Ouch! Oh! Oh! Agony! Agony![/Bugs Bunny voice]

Those TV morons know what gets ratings, conflict and drama, that's the only explanation I can think of for why Lisa's still there, cause it sure ain't for her cookin' and pleasant demeanor.

Thank god I am not the only one that thinks that way!! My bf and I were upset last night. Seriously-how is it Lisa is still there?????

What are the judges thinking?? I dare say they are not at all.

Yes. Lisa needs to leave. ASAP. Can't stand her and her tactic of staying by throwing others under the bus is awful.

It is disappointing that Andrew left last week and Dale this week and Lisa and Spike are still there. But that is what the producers want, crafting, shaping the drama as the show is entertainment. I think the producers made the decision that Andrew and Dale were ultimately not finalists and that drama was more important than talent. It would have been interesting to see Andrew there instead of Spike. Spike cooked nothing and is just a master of sucking up to the producers. I think the producers are infatuated with Spike this season the same way they were infatuated with Sam from the other season, and I still don't get it. Or if Lisa was gone and Andrew was there, I think Spike's lack of talent would have stood out like a sore thumb. And in this episode Dale did all the cooking and Spike cooked nothing, in previous episodes people have been sent home for not cooking. But I really don't care for the nasty attitudes and really wanted to see some fresh ideas and earnest cooking. Unfortunately, that is not what the show is about. Yeah for cooking blogs!!!!!!!!!!!

The contestants went to Lou Mitchell's for the quick-fire.

Lisa is excuse after excuse after excuse. She's a terrible cook. She should perhaps be cooking for that Diner for a living (during quickfire). She makes mistake after mistake. But! Dale was the exec chef, and just like last year when Tre got the boot. Phenomenal chef. But the buck stops at him. I think it is safe to assume that in the coming years precedent is in fact set. If you're the executive chef during restaurant wars, your neck is on the line should you lose.

Lou Mitchell's. OMG I so miss that place. Used to be my and my dad's spot to go.

Also - was it just me - or did you all have no problem with all the breakfast slang the wait staff used? Over easy - over hard - etc. Serious what about breakfast slang do CHEF's not know? And I found it fall down hilarious that Lisa messed up the rice. TWICE! Please GO HOME.

This thing where they send the EC home even when they tried their best to make things right is getting old. In the real world, Dale would not be EC and Lisa his sous chef, because he would NEVER HAVE HIRED HER in the first place. He and Spike both told her repeatedly that the soup was too smoky, and she was either unwilling or incapable of fixing it. Ditto the rice. In an actual restaurant, Dale would have had the option of firing her and serving something else made from whatever ingredients they had on hand. But he can't fire her, and the only food they had to work with is what they brought back from Whole Foods. Oh well. Obviously Lisa or Spike goes next.

Spike really annoys me. He is obviously really insecure, which is why he is always obnoxious and trying to be funny. I agree with Harold. The people on the winning team of Richard, Stephanie, and Antonia are all cool, calm, and collected. See how Antonia took those egg orders with grace? ? She has my vote!

I sort of agree, but by choosing to be EC, you are putting yourself in a position where the food you make is not the only factor that you are judged on. Dale, failed in both the food departments and the leadership roles.

Yeah, but Dale did actively push to be the EC this challenge, even though any idiot could see that his team was going to lose. Obviously anyone with half a brain would have fired Lisa on the spot, but by pushing so hard to be EC, Dale in effect "hired" her. If he didn't want to hire her he should have let her take control and taken her place as the sous. It's much better to be a sous chef with an idiot EC because you just have to do your job well, no matter what you are asked to do. The outcome of this battle was a foregone conclusion as soon as the teams were picked. Dale should have realized that he was never going to be able to keep control of Lisa and should have put his ego aside and let her throw herself under the bus. It was pretty clear that the reason he demanded to be EC was because his ego couldn't deal with Lisa bossing him around.

The thing is that Dale didn't comport himself as an EC should. Choosing to focus mainly on his own dishes instead of supervising, freaking out when his stuff went bad, abusing waitstaff, offering no solution to Lisa's, admittedly self-made crises, and letting Spike disappear for most of the prep time into the front room (how did Stephanie manage to conceive of a linguine and clams dish/bake a gorgonzola cheesecake AND set up the front of the house while Spike could barely even braise short ribs??? which is difficult, but does not require a ton of active prep time).

Yes Lisa screwed up hardcore, but if Dale wanted the EC job so bad he should have expected to have to clean up her mess. As EC, you get the power but you also have to take the responsibility for everything that comes out of your kitchen. He shouldn't be expected to hold Lisa's hand the whole way through prep, but if that is what needs to get done to make the service go well, then he needs to deal with it. Dale just wanted the power so that Lisa couldn't boss him around, but none of the responsibility. When it became clear that Lisa's dishes were awful (although its not as though his butterscotch scallops were any great shakes) he didn't care and just let her fail choosing to deal with his own messes instead. When you are EC, its your responsibility to take care of situations like that, even if you think the other person is an inept idiot. When you send out a nasty dish, its not some line chef whose reputation is going to be on the line, its yours.

While I think that Dale should have outlasted Spike and Lisa based on cooking skills and qualities to be a chef, I have to say that based on his human interaction and leadership skills, he was not yet cut out to be Top Chef and was less qualified than Richard, Stephanie, or Antonia for that position. He would make a great sous chef (he is possibly the best cook of the bunch), but he has constantly sucked when put in a leadership position, always choosing to take care of his own stuff before reaching out to the rest of his kitchen. Look at the difference between him and Hung. Hung was a conceited jerk that was socially awkward, but whenever he was put in an EC position, he didn't just see his "dishes" as the ones he prepared, but was constantly in everyone's face all the time making sure that his dishes were up to his standards. He was slightly immature and annoying about it, but at least he took charge.

I agree with Brittj858, Chef's don't have the human interaction skills other people possess. Their job is to tell people what to do.

Bourdain said it was "baby vomit with wood chips" during the meal and at the judges' table said that on a diner's comment card the dish had been described as "baby food with potpourri"

Let start by saying I think Lisa is the Mike of a few seasons ago. How can someone so inept, unorginal, and lacking in any kind of skill still be in the competition at this stage of the game? She really is a snake who has little to no talent. If the trend continues the finale is really going be anticlimactic as Richard will pound the other finalist(s) into creative submission. I don't see how this won't be a Richard, Antonia, and Stephanie final. Some people may want a female Top Chef, but Stephanie has a severe confidence problem and Antonia can only seem to cook food that her daughter likes. I think Richard is thinking on a completely different level than the other two.

The only way they win is if Richard gets kicked off before the final. Judging by the last couple of weeks that may soon happen. It's shaped up so far to be "Top Finger Pointer".